Hundreds of women were raped and burned alive during a mass jailbreak as rebels stormed the Congolese city of Goma last week, according to the United Nations. Masses of inmates escaped Goma’s Munzenze prison last Monday as M23 rebels took over, with female prisoners reportedly attacked in their wing amid the chaos. Deputy head of the UN peacekeeping force, Vivian van de Perre, said several thousand men managed to escape the prison, but the woman's wing was set on fire.
Van de Perre, who is based in Goma alongside thousands of UN peacekeeping troops to help protect civillians, said: “There was a major prison breakout of 4,000 escaped prisoners. A few hundred women were also in that prison. They were all raped and then they set fire to the women’s wing. They all died afterwards.”. Photos from the scene showed a blanket of thick grey smoke rising aboce the prison on the morning of January 27 - after the Rwandan-backed M23 group reached the centre of Goma.
UN peacekeepers have been unable to investigate the prison further due to of restrictions imposed by the rebels, so the identity of the perpetrators are currently not known. The UN office of the high commissioner for human rights (OHCHR) warned this week that sexual violence was being used as a weapon of war by rival armed groups in Goma, which is home to two million people. In a sudden development late on Monday, the militia announced a unilateral “ceasefire” for humanitarian reasons, following calls for a safe corridor for aid and hundreds of thousands of displaced people. The M23 rebels said the ceasefire would start Tuesday.
It came shortly after the UN health agency said at least 900 people were killed in last week’s fighting in Goma between the rebels and Congolese forces. The city boasts trillions of dollars in mineral wealth and remains in rebel control. The M23 were reported to be gaining ground in other areas of eastern Congo and advancing on another provincial capital, Bukavu. But they revealed on Monday they had no plans to seize Bukavu. “It must be made clear that we have no intention of capturing Bukavu or other areas. However, we reiterate our commitment to protecting and defending the civilian population and our positions,” M23 rebel spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka said in a statement.
